Belief
by actionman81
Summary: Peggy's grandson visits her in the hospice, but learns something in the process


Washington DC  
2014

"I saw him!"  
Peggy smiled from her hospice bed  
"Who, darling?"  
"Come on, Grandma!" he pointed to his t-shirt, which had a patriotic shield logo screen printed on, "You know. Captain America!"  
Peggy smiled, but glanced up at her son, Detective Michael Saunders  
"He wants to wear that practically every day. We ended up getting a few, just so they could go through the wash cycle" he grinned.  
Peggy nodded absently at him  
"I'll go get us a coffee and a juice, ok, buddy?" he left the room, leaving grandmother and grandson together  
Peggy smiled. The boy standing before her had light brown hair, like his mother, and had her eyes as well, but those ears, somehow the Sousa genes managed to push themselves through, no matter what  
"Come closer" she beckoned her grandson. He took a step forward. "You really saw him?" her voice was lower, as if they were discussing a secret  
"Sure I did" he nodded vigorously, "I remember all those stories you and Grandpa told me"  
Peggy's smile faded for a moment. Daniel had been dead for what seemed like quite a long time, even though it had been fairly recent, or was it? She was having trouble remembering when things happened  
"Was he" she began, "was he alright?" Peggy had remembered her talk with Steve from before, when he'd visited her last  
"I guess" he shrugged, "he just told me to keep this a secret, so I didn't tell anyone, not even Mom and Dad, but I had to tell you"  
"I'm so glad you did" she genuinely smiled, a vision of peace came over her for a moment, but then her eyes glazed over for a moment  
Just then, Michael Saunders came back, bearing coffee and a juice box  
"They only had mango, pal, sorry"  
"Daniel" Peggy looked up from her bed, "I'm so glad you're here"  
Detective Saunders' smile fell from his face, "Oh" he realized what had happened, "Come on, buddy, let's give Grandma some rest, ok?"  
"But we were talking" he whined  
"I know you were" his voice softened, "go finish your juice outside, and I'll talk to her for a moment"  
"Alright" he clutched his juice box and stomped outside into the hall  
"Hey" Michael smiled, a pained expression hid behind it  
"Daniel" Peggy's eyes widened, "I saw Steve again"  
"I know, I know you did"  
"I wish you had met him, you were so much alike"  
"Yeah" Michael choked out the word, "Maybe next time"  
"The children would be so thrilled if they could say hello. I've told them so many stories about him"  
"I know- I know you did" he leaned close, "I've got to – finish some paperwork, and talk to someone, but you rest" he kissed her forehead, "I love you, Mom"  
"Daniel?" she furrowed her wizened brows  
"I know" his voice was softer now, "I still love you"  
"And I love you" she smiled peacefully  
Michael Saunders smiled sadly, got up and left the room  
Outside, he took his young son's hand and they walked towards the parking lot,  
"How come Grandma kept calling you Grandpa's name?"  
He had heard. Damn  
"Well, I guess" he started, thinking, "She misses him"  
"But you didn't tell her she was wrong"  
"Wrong?"  
"That you're not Grandpa"  
"Sometimes, it just matters what you believe, or what you want to believe"  
"Oh" he kicked a rock with his high top sneaker, "like if I saw something, and nobody believes me, but I know what I saw"  
"Sure, I suppose" Michael slowly exhaled the words out, "What did you see?"  
"I saw someone" he looked at his shoes, and then up at his father, "but if I told you, you wouldn't believe me"  
"Hey" Michael knelt, right there in the parking lot, near a curb, "you know that you can tell me anything, right?"  
"But, it's too – you wouldn't think its real"  
"If you saw it, and you know that you saw it, then that's enough" he was at eye level with his son  
"I saw him, Dad"  
"Who did you see?"  
"The guy in Grandma's stories, Captain America"  
Michael Saunders smiled. He wasn't sure if it was his son's active imagination, or if perhaps he'd really seen a ghost from their past. What was important was being there for his son  
"I know you did" he hugged him, "I believe you"  
He stood, took his son's hand and they walked on, "So, what did he have on, his uniform?"  
"No, he had on regular clothes, a baseball cap, and a jacket"  
"Nice"  
"Yeah, and he did this" he put his finger to his lips  
"Oh, like the librarians do"  
"Yeah"


End file.
